He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism , including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation.
Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Congregational , Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin was a tireless polemicist and apologetic writer who generated much controversy.
He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In addition to his seminal Institutes of the Christian Religion , Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents , and various other theological treatises.
Calvin was originally trained as a humanist lawyer. He broke from the Roman Catholic Church around After religious tensions erupted in widespread deadly violence against Protestant Christians in France, Calvin fled to Basel , Switzerland, where in he published the first edition of the Institutes.
In that same year, Calvin was recruited by Frenchman William Farel to join the Reformation in Geneva , where he regularly preached sermons throughout the week. However, the governing council of the city resisted the implementation of their ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer , Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg , where he became the minister of a church of French refugees.
